Three US Companies that Have Had the Best Stock Price Over the Past 30 Years

Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Intel
3. Microsoft
4. Genentech
5. Recommendations
6. Conclusion
7. References

Introduction
The US is one of the most developed countries of the world. In fact, nowadays the US occupies the dominant position in the world and is considered to be the only superpower, though economically, this country faces a strong competition from the part of the EU and some Asian states. Nevertheless, many American companies are leaders in their industry in global terms. It is important to underline that many American companies started their business in the US and gradually expanded in the external markets opening new opportunities for their promotion worldwide. However, it is not always multinational corporations that gain a tremendous success that result in the high stock price of these companies, such as Intel or Microsoft, but there are also companies that basically operate in the local market and which stock price is also very high, such as Genentech.
In fact, the three companies mentioned above, Intel, Microsoft, and Genentech, have had been among the leaders in their stock price performance in the US within past 30 years. This fact is particularly remarkable if one takes into consideration the fact that some of these companies were founded a little bit more than 30 years ago. In such a situation, it is really important to analyze their experience and develop some recommendations in order to maintain good performance of these companies since they are the leaders of their industries and may be viewed as guides for many other companies that have just started their functioning in the American market.
Intel
Intel Corporation is one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world. The company founded in 1968 nowadays operates worldwide and is one of the largest supplier of microprocessors (Mohrman, 1998). In fact, the company occupies the first place in the world among companies producing microprocessor, while its only serious opponent AMD has considerably weaker positions in the market. At the same time, it is worthy of mention that the company is specialized not only on the production of semiconductors and microprocessors but also Intel is a well-known producer of motherboards chipsets, network cards and ICs, flash memory and many other devices related to communications and computing.
It is necessary to underline that practically since the date of its foundation till the present moment the company occupied the leading position in its industry. To put it more precisely, since the foundation of the company, Intel had been practically the monopoly because it used unique technologies and there were few competitors working in the same segment of the market. In fact, it is only when the IMB demanded an alternative supplier of microprocessors AMD came into play, while before the position of Intel was monopolistic. Basically, the situation has remained unchangeable till the 1990s when AMD started to promote their production independently from Intel and only in this period the real threat to the dominant position of Intel became real (Peters, 2002).
In such a situation, it is quite natural that the position of Intel in the national and later international market was unshakable. Naturally, the stock price of the company grew proportionally to the growth of the need of microprocessors and other devices used in communications and computing. It is worthy of mention that the company gained its success due to the wide implementation of new technologies. This is why it is possible to recommend continuing working on the development of new technologies that will help the company to preserve its leading positions since many developments of Intel are unique that provide the company with an opportunity to benefit from its leading position in the industry.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is to a significant extent similar to Intel since it is another American company that gradually evolved into an international corporation and became the leader in its industry. Traditionally, Microsoft specialized on computer technologies and development of software, including probably its most famous product Windows operation system. In fact, the position of Microsoft resembles that of Intel because the company is practically a monopolist in its segment of the market. It is worthy of mention that Microsoft is a supplier of software for the overwhelming majority of computers, while its major competitor, Apple, is in a considerably more disadvantaged position than Microsoft.
Naturally, the company could hardly fail to benefit from its monopolistic position in the market that led to the considerably growth of its stock price since the first successes which came soon after the foundation of the company in 1975 (Peters, 2002). In fact, the position of the company remains unchanged even at the present days, in spite of numerous antitrust trials against Microsoft and growing competition in the communication and computing industry. In such a situation, it is possible to recommend the company to focus on the development of new software but it is extremely important to avoid further violation of the antitrust law in order to minimize the risk of possible losses in case of trials.
At the same time, the company should be really flexible in order to be able to react immediately to any changes in the market which occur rapidly in the field of computing and telecommunications. Another important problem the company should focus on is the struggle against piracy and unauthorized use of its products that implies the necessity of the development of more effective system of protection of the developments and intellectual property of the company.
Genentech
Genentech is another American company that mad a tremendous progress due to the use of innovations. However, unlike Intel and Microsoft, Genentech has failed to expand in the international markets independently and, currently, the Swiss pharmaceutical conglomerate Hoffmann-La Roche owns the majority of Genentech shares (Peters, 2002). Nevertheless, this does not prevent the company from maintaining leading positions in the market of biotechnologies and, therefore, the stock price performance of the company is one of the best in the US. It is necessary to underline that the rapid growth of the stock price of the company had started just a few years after the foundation of the Genentech in 1976 since this company had actually founded the biotechnology industry (Howard, 2000). In such a way, similarly to Intel and Microsoft, Genentech used innovations and its unique developments to maintain the leading positions even in the conditions of the growing competition.
In such a situation, it is possible to recommend continue unique developments of the company since biotechnologies are quite perspective, though it is very important to preserve relative independence of the company from Hoffmann-La Roche at least within the US in order to maintain its traditions, which became the basis of its success. In fact, it is due to its traditions Genentech has managed to create a positive atmosphere within the company that stimulates its personnel to work more effectively.
Conclusion
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that the experience of the three companies discussed above, Intel, Microsoft, and Genentech, shows that the good stock price performance may be achieved due to the wide implementation of new technologies and focus on high tech developments, which can make a company the leader of the new but very perspective industry as it was in the case of Intel, Microsoft, and Genentech.

References:
Howard, F. (2000). Recent Economic Trends. Chicago: Routledge.
Mohrman, S. A. (1998). Tomorrow's organization: Crafting winning capabilities in a dynamic world. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Peters, T. J. (2002). In search of excellence: Lessons from America's best-run companies. New York: Harper & Row.
Schein, E. H. (1999). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Viardot, E. (2001). Successful Marketing Strategy for High-Tech Firms. New York: New Publishers.